This document discusses speech act theory, which analyzes the functions of language use beyond just describing or conveying information. It covers: - John Austin's seminal work distinguishing locutionary acts (literal meaning), illocutionary acts (intended function), and perlocutionary acts (effects on the listener). - John Searle later systematized speech act theory and stated that utterances perform actions within social contexts. - Speech acts are classified into declarations, representatives, expressives, directives, and commissives based on their function. - Indirect speech acts use different grammatical structures than their intended functions to convey meaning.

1. Speech Acts
By :
Zahra Aamir

2. The Oxford philosopher J. Austin started his XI lecture,
published in his book “How to do things with words”, by a
contrasted statement about performative and constative utterances,
mentioning that “the truth or falsity of a statement depends not
merely on the meaning of words but on what act you were
performing in what circumstances” This represents the gist of what
would be known as Speech Act Theory.

3. Speech act theory, which was foreshadowed by the Austrian
philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s views about language games, were
formed by Austin in the late1930 and presented in his lectures given at
Oxford in 1952–1954, and later in his William James Lectures delivered
at Harvard in 1955.

4. After his death in 1960, Austin’s ideas were refined, systematized, and
advanced especially by his Oxford pupil, the American philosopher John R.
Searle.
Searle (1969: 148) simply stated that the central tenet of speech act theory is
that the uttering of a sentence is, or is part of, an action within the framework of
social institutions and conventions.

5. Definitions of Speech Acts
Searle hypothesized that speaking a language is engaging in a rule-governed form of
behavior, in which this form is performing speech acts such as making statements, giving
commands, asking questions, making promises.
Speech acts theory is essentially concerned with the communicative functions of
utterances in terms of what the speaker aims to achieve by virtue of speaking and in terms
of the resulting effect on the addressee (Perkins.2007:15).

6. Cruse (2006: 167) defines speech acts as acts which crucially involve
the production of language.
A speech act is an utterance that serves a function in communication.
We perform speech acts in everyday life by Greeting, Apologizing,
Requesting, Complaining and so on.

7. Austin’s Theory of Speech Acts
Austin (1962) claimed that all utterances, in addition to meaning whatever
they mean, perform specific acts via the specific communicative force of an
utterance.
He introduced a threefold distinction among the acts one simultaneously
performs when saying something:
 Locutionary.
 Illocutionary.
 Perlocutionary

8. Locutionary
It is the production of an utterance with a particular intended structure, meaning and
reference. ( The literal meaning of actual words).
Leech (1983.167) defines locutionary acts as roughly equivalent to uttering a certain
sentence with certain sense and reference.
The locutionary act is the act of saying something with a certain meaning and reference.
So, it has to do with “what is said” in a sense, by linking referents with predications about
those referents.

9. Action performed by an utterance called speech
acts.
Example: You’re fired!
This utterance can be used by us as an action to
fire someone from his current job.

10. Illocutionary
The illocutionary act deals with what you intend to do by means of saying it.
We have the illocutionary act, which adds in the intentions of the speaker
regarding what act they intended to perform by means of making that utterance
(Birner, 2012: 113).
An act is performed by a speaker in saying something (with an appropriate
intention and in an appropriate context), rather than by virtue of producing
a particular effect with saying something.

11. Perlocutionary
It is a speech act which depends on the production of a specific effect.
( The hearer's response)
- I’ll take you to Disneyland for your birthday .

12. The differences are also important while performing a speech act
Locution / Illocution / Perlocution.
A distinction is made between the following:
Locution = the words that are uttered or written
Illocution = the speaker’s or writer’s intention
Perlocution = the intended effect (Sadock, 2004: 55).

13. An example to illustrate the distinction between the Locution / Illocution and
Perlocution of a simple English sentence is what you expect when hearing a question like
“Would you open the door?”
Locution = Meaning Illocution = Intention Perlocution = effect on the hearer
↓ ↓ ↓
The door is closed open the door = It is hot, so I need you to open the door

14. Speech Act Classification
One general classification system lists five types of
general function performed by speech acts:
 Declaration
 Representative
 Expressive
 Directive
 Commissive

15. Declaration
Speech acts that change the situations via their utterance/word.
For example:
Judge: I sentence you to six months in prison.

16. Representative
Speech acts that state what speaker believes to be the case or
not. Fact, assertions, conclusions, descriptions.
For example:
a) Chomsky didn’t write about peanuts.
b) The weather will be cold tomorrow.

17. Utterances used to express the emothional state of the speaker.
( pleasure, pain , complaint, joy, or sorrow)
For example:
a) I’m really sorry.
b) Congratulations.
c) Oh, yes, great, mmm.
Expressive

18. Directive
Speech acts that speaker tries to make hearer do something.
(Command, orders, requests, suggestion)
For example:
a) Give me a cup of coffee.
b) Could you lend me a pen, please?
c) Don’t touch that.

19. Commissive
Speech acts that speakers use to commit themselves to do
something in the future . (Promises, threats, refusals, pledges)
For example:
a) I’ll be back.
b) I’m going to Japan tomorrow.
c) We will not do that.

20. The speaker might have different meanings which can make
the hearer can not recognize the real illocutionary force from
the utterance
How to solve this problem?
 There are two ways to answer this:
IFIDs
Felicity condition

21. Illocutionary Force Indicating Devices
An expression from an utterance which contains a slot to put a
verb that explicitly named the illocutionary act being performed.
The verb called performative verb
 I’ll see you later.
 I warn you that I’ll see you later.
 I promise you that I’ll see you later.
IFIDs

22. IFIDs can be identified as a word order, stress, and intonation.
She is going! = I tell you.
She is going? = I request confirmation.
Is she going? = I ask you

23. Felicity condition
To make the utterance can be recognize by the hearer, the circumstance
surrounding the speaker must be appropriate with the condition.
- I sentence you to six months in prison.
The performance won’t be appropriate if the speaker is not a specific
person in special context (in this case, the speaker must be a judge in
a courtroom)

24. Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
There is a direct relationship between the structural form and
the communicative function of the utterance .
There is an easily recognized relationship between
 Structural forms
(declarative, interrogative, imperative)
 Communication function
(statement, question, command/request)

25. a. She plants a mango tree. (declarative-statement)
b. Does she plant a mango tree? (interrogative question)
c. Plant a mango tree! (imperative, command/request).

26. a) It is cold today . ( direct declaration )
b) I order you to leave the office ( direct order)
c) I warn you not to play with knives.( direct warning)

27. Can you open the window ?
Structural form = communicative form
(question ) ( request)

28. You are standing in front of the TV.
Form : declarative .
Function :request to move away .
 The form does not correspond with the function.

29. Direct speech is a direct relationship between a
structure and a function.
Indirect speech is an indirect relationship between
a structure and a function.

30. THANK
YOU